


Found You Again

by kams_log



Series: Destiel Prompts & One Shots [6]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe- No Supernatural, Arranged Meetings, Dean in a Wheelchair, Dog Trainer Castiel, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Getting Back Together, Hurt Dean, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Paralysis, Reunions, Sam Knows, Service Dogs, Supportive Sam, Wheelchairs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-05
Updated: 2015-06-05
Packaged: 2018-04-03 02:07:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4082608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kams_log/pseuds/kams_log
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean and Cas used to be a couple all through high school. All that changed when Dean had to move away, and neither of them heard from each other for years.</p><p>Now, time has passed. After Dean suffered from an accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down, he returned home to live closer to Sam. Little does he know, that Cas still lives in town too. And he happens to work at the same shelter that provides service dogs for people with disabilities. People like Dean.</p><p>They meet, and old feelings are quick to resurface. And maybe, just maybe, there will be a chance to start where they left off. With a new addition of the dog, of course.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Found You Again

**Author's Note:**

> just something i came up with this morning. i hope you guys like it!

“Dude, I swear, this is the worst idea you’ve ever--” Dean didn’t get a chance to finish as a powerful sneeze ripped through his nose, leaving him doubled over and gasping for breath.

“It’s not that bad,” Sam rolled his eyes, clearly unimpressed with Dean’s response. “There’s no need to be overdramatic here.”

“It’s not--” he sneezed again, “--overdramatic!”

Dean wiped his nose angrily and glared at the glass cases around the room. In several rows there were large glass cases of kittens and puppies and every kind of baby animal imaginable. Dean wouldn’t have cared about coming here at all, if it weren’t for the damn kittens.

He sniffed and grudgingly rolled along behind Sam, watched as Sam ogled the little puppies that jumped up in the glass cases to get a better look at the moose staring down at them.

Dean glared at all of them. They were all little monsters, really. All of them were just little devils looking to eat, poop, then sleep on all the furniture and leave hair everywhere. Why did people willingly put these animals in their homes? It was a nightmare waiting to happen.

And Sam thought he could convince Dean to get one of them? He was kidding himself.

“It’s not like I’m going to get you a cat,” Sam was saying as he held open a door to the second half of the pet store, their real destination just ahead.

Dean grumbled and pushed himself through the door, silently grateful the single door was wide enough for his wheelchair to get through. He shouldn’t have expected anything less, though. They were here to look at service dogs, after all.

It didn’t stop Dean from giving a stink eye to all the yipping and barking dogs though, as Sam led him down to the front.

A young woman sat in a pen full of puppies with training vests. She was playing with them until she spotted Sam and Dean above her.

She smiled and got to her feet, extended a hand and said, “You must be Sam Winchester. I heard you were looking for a service dog?” Her eyes flicked over to Dean’s, and he offered a thin smile.

Sam, however, beamed and shook the woman’s hand excitedly.

“Yeah, you must be the lady I spoke to on the phone. Ruby, right?”

The woman, Ruby, smiled and nodded. She extended her hand to Dean as well. He shook hit as she said, “Will the dog be for you?”

Dean barely restrained himself from scowling at Sam as he replied, “If Sam prays very, very hard.”

“So you’re one of those ‘I can do it myself’ men,” Ruby winked. Dean flushed as she laughed.

“Don’t worry,” she said. “Cas is great at finding the perfect dog for everyone.”

Dean’s eyebrows rose at that. That name, Cas, sounded incredibly familiar. He hadn’t heard it since high school. He narrowed his eyes as Ruby walked over to her desk and pressed a button into the intercom.

“Castiel Novak, please come to the back desk. Thank you.”

Immediately, Dean felt heat rise to the tips of his ears.

Oh. Damn. Castiel Novak. So much for hoping in coincidences.

Dean didn’t have a moment to argue or leave before the back door opened, and Dean’s eyes widened as blue eyes filled his vision.

“Shit,” Dean muttered. He missed Sam’s curious look, but he heard Sam’s gasp of surprise when he turned to see who’d entered.

“Dude, Cas!” Sam exclaimed, immediately walking over to shake their old friend’s hand. “I haven’t seen you since high school!”

Cas looked… _good_. Time had treated him well. Cas had clearly traded in his old sweaters and patched up jeans. He now wore a button down shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows to reveal the edges of tattoos on his arms. If Dean looked carefully, he could even see a few peaking above his collar. He wore nice black pants and sneakers, and if Dean could walk, he was fairly convinced he’d have jumped Cas in a second.

Hell, he hadn’t felt this aroused since his senior year when he made out with Cas in the broom closet at graduation.

Dean caught Cas’s blush when his eyes finally settled on Dean. He didn’t miss the look of surprise when Cas noticed the new _additions_ to Dean’s person.

Dean lowered his gaze quickly and sucked in a deep breath. No time to think about it now. He raised his head and forced a shaky smile to his face, raised a hand to shake Cas’s.

“Hey man,” Dean said as Cas walked forward. “It’s been forever!”

Cas’s eyes seemed trapped between looking into his eyes and glancing down at the wheelchair beneath Dean’s feet. None-the-less, he took Dean’s hand in both of his and shook it warmly, a gentle smile spreading wide across his face. It reminded Dean of the first time Cas told him he loved him. They’d been fifteen, hiding away in Dean’s room playing video games. Cas had blurted it out so suddenly, Dean had literally dropped his controller. Cas won that game. But Dean pinned him and kissed the living hell out of him a minute later.

It was strange, seeing that same shy smile now. Cas had nothing to be shy about. Dean was the one who was ready to throw himself into oblivion.

“Dean,” Cas said, smile bright and warm and welcoming. Dean wanted to drown in that smile. “It’s great to see you. I never thought--”

He hesitated, and Dean tried not to read into it.

Never thought what? That he’d see Dean again? That Dean would ever be condemned to a wheelchair?

Dean wasn’t sure. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know either.

“Me either,” Dean decided to reply, eventually.

Sam coughed from behind them. Their hands fell away. Dean mourned the loss of contact.

“We were hoping to get a service dog today. Ruby said you were the best for finding good matches,” Sam explained.

Cas nodded seriously, a business expression quickly falling into place. Dean prefered the holding hand and loving smile.

Cas, however, smiled politely and said, “Well, we have a few options… Did you have any ideas for what you wanted specifically?”

Dean opened his mouth to respond, but Sam cut him off, “He actually isn’t completely on board with getting a service dog. He thinks they’re useless.”

“I do not!” Dean exclaimed, smacking Sam’s arm. He turned to look at Cas, who was staring at him fondly. It caused Dean to blush as he quickly amended, “Um, I just don’t want a dog that’ll try to do everything for me. I can take care of lots of things myself, thanks.”

Cas grinned knowingly and nodded. It calmed something inside Dean as he motioned for the brothers to follow him.

“I understand,” he replied. “We have a few dogs I think you’ll like, Dean.”

Cas stopped in front of a pen of large dogs. They all looked a bit older than some of the two year olds Dean had seen in the pet store. They looked like they were more experienced, a little more tired and understanding.

They kind of looked like Dean felt most days.

“Chief!” Cas called, patted his knees as he opened the gate. “Come here, boy.”

A german shepard perked it’s head up from the corner it lay in. It studied Cas and the brothers curiously, then climbed to it’s feet and trotted over.

It sat itself at Dean’s feet and looked at him expectantly. Dean stared back.

“Chief here is one of the oldest dogs we have,” Cas explained. “He’s about five years old, and his last owner passed away a few months back.”

Dean reached out and rubbed the dog’s head, scratched behind it’s ears and smiled as the dog panted and wagged its tail.

“Yeah?” Dean asked as the dog sat it’s head on Dean’s leg. It stared up at him quietly. Dean was surprised. Most dogs he’d seen drooled constantly, barked at everything they saw, and were generally annoying.

At least this dog was quiet, still.

“Yes,” Cas nodded. “He can be quite stubborn as well. He won’t get anything for you that he knows you can get yourself. He makes you work for his attention sometimes.”

“You talking about the dog, or me?” Dean asked curiously, then blushed when he realized what he said. But Cas was smiling at him fondly. Cas reached out and pet the dog as well.

Chief huffed in pleasure and dropped its eyes, content to bask in the attention for now.

“Both, I suppose,” Cas replied. “Would you like to take him outside and see what you think? You don’t have to make any decision right now, of course.”

Dean shook his head and looked around.

“Nah,” he replied. “I think Sam really wants me to make a decision today.”

The dog huffed on his lap once more, then moved and trotted away, sat down by a bone and started to gnaw on it intently. Dean grinned.

“You don’t have to do anything today Dean,” Sam argued, his tone kind. “I just want to make sure you’re not cooped up alone in your house all day.”

“You live alone?” Cas asked. He sounded surprised. Dean tried not to let it get to him as he nodded.

“Yeah,” Dean replied. He turned his gaze back to the dog, trying not to think about what had caused that fact.

He used to live with his Dad. They worked together in construction, and Dean had never had a reason to move out of his Dad’s place after he graduated high school. They’d moved away for work reasons, and it had been the primary reason for Dean and Cas’s breakup.

It was only a few years later when Dean was 21 that he and his Dad were working on a roof when it caved beneath them. A beam had hit John’s head and killed him instantly. Dean had been paralyzed from the waist down.

He’d lived alone ever since, but did move back to live closer to Sam after the accident.

He had no idea Cas was still in town though, let alone working so close to Dean’s home.

Dean was shocked they hadn’t run into each other till now.

Dean cleared his throat abruptly and turned to face Sam.

“I’ll take him. He’s cool.”

“Really?” Sam sounded surprised, but not about to argue.

“Yeah,” Dean replied and pointed at Chief. “I like him.”

Cas also smiled and stood. “Well then, congratulations. We’ll get the paperwork.”

It was a slow process. During the time Sam and Ruby talked, dealing primarily in paying and making sure all the signatures were in order, Cas led Dean around and helped him find everything he’d need to take care of Chief once he moved in.

So far they had the dog food, a bed, a leash, and bowls. They were looking at chew toys and bones now, and Dean was painfully aware of Cas’s continued glances at his wheelchair. It was starting to get uncomfortable. Especially remembering how they broke up, especially when Dean had been walking back then.

Cas put in an approved box of chewy bones in their cart when Dean finally gave up.

“It was an accident,” Dean stated.

Cas hesitated and looked down at him, shock evident on his face.

“W-What?” He asked.

Dean motioned to his legs, then thought better and motioned between the two of them.

“My legs, breaking up with you. None of it was ever supposed to happen.” He realized he was talking too fast, his voice getting higher with every word. But it was too painful.

He and Cas should never have broken up. Dean should have stayed and started his own business at home instead of moving halfway across the country to follow his Dad’s ambitions. He should have been living with Cas and making him breakfast in the mornings, having awesome sex in the evenings and hanging out with friends on the weekends.

He should still be able to walk. And he should have still been able to hold Cas’s hand.

“Wait, Dean,” Cas reached out and touched a hand to Dean’s shoulder. His eyes were soft and kind, his lips drawn into a worried line that Dean was all too familiar with. “You’re not making sense,” Cas explained. “Slow down, start from the beginning.”

Dean took a deep breath and looked at Cas, willing him to understand.

“I-I didn’t want to leave you,” he said finally. “I wanted to stay.”

Cas knelt down beside him, sat on his haunches as he watched Dean quietly, listened intently.

Dean continued, “Dad… Dad was moving his business. I guess he wanted me to get away from you, from my lifestyle. But I was blind and I didn’t want to admit to it, so I left. I lost you and then I lost my…” He motioned to his legs and swallowed hard. “It was an accident. I didn’t mean to leave you. I mean that, Cas.”

Cas stared at him, blue eyes wide and focused. His expression was incredibly blank, and it was all Dean could do not to have a panic attack right then and there.

But Cas’s hand squeezed his shoulder, and Dean felt all the air swoop out of his lungs.

“That… That means a lot to me Dean,” Cas said quietly. His voice was soft and hesitant. He continued, “But why are you telling me this, Dean?”

Dean took another deep breath, grounded by Castiel’s hand on his shoulder, and replied quietly, honestly, “I don’t know. I guess… I was wondering if you were free tonight.”

Cas’s lips twitched, and Dean raised his eyebrows at the slight smile.

“T-Tonight?” Cas sounded shocked, awed.

Dean quickly backtracked, “Uh, I mean, unless you’re busy or something. I’m sorry, I’m kind of just throwing this out there.”

“No,” Cas interrupted, eyes finally blowing wide and his hand tightened almost painfully on Dean’s shoulder. “No, I’m free. I… I’d really like that, Dean.”

“Wait, seriously?” Dean asked, now his turn to be shocked.

Cas nodded seriously, a bright smile spreading across his face.

“Perhaps I could come over and see how you and Cheif are doing on your first night together?” Cas asked. “And then… dinner after?”

Dean beamed and nodded hard.

“I’d love that,” he replied.

Cas stood and leaned forward, pressed a brief kiss to Dean’s temple. He immediately blushed, not at all ashamed when he leaned into the touch as Cas moved away.

“Well then,” Cas said, also blushing. “Let’s go and get your new service dog.”

“He’s just a dog Cas,” Dean argued, but there was no venom in his tone.

Cas chuckled and led Dean to the back desk, set his things on the counter for Ruby to ring up.

“Well, he’s your dog now.”

“Think I got more than a dog today,” Dean replied.

Cas grinned.

They both missed Ruby and Sam’s knowing looks.

**Author's Note:**

> me: lovefromdean.tumblr.com
> 
> i hope you liked it!


End file.
